How many flashes per underarm per treatment?

Question

I have done underarms before and the technician was spending a total of 10-15 minutes for both underarms. I had really great results. Today a new technician (new salon - I moved) did about 10-15 flashes per underarm totaling in 2 minutes of treatment. I feel like I didn't really get a full treatment. Am I wrong to think that this was not a quality procedure?

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

This can vary due to practitioner and laser used for removal. If you have questions about your treatment, I recommend following up with your practitioner. It will take a series of treatments and some people need treatments to maintain. See an expert. Best, Dr. Emer

Michael J. Brown, MD · Answer

Good afternoon and thank you for your question! It depends on the spot size that is being used during the treatment. Different lasers utilize different spot sizes. If your first technician was using a smaller spot size then it would take longer to cover the treatment area when compared to your most recent treatment. If a larger spot size is being used then the treatment will not take as long. We use a Cutera cool glide Nd:YAG laser here and normally use a 10mm spot size for the under arms. It takes approximately five minutes to treat each under arm (depending on the pain tolerance of the patient). Best of luck! For more information please feel free to visit our website!

Laura Riehm, MD · Answer

Thanks for you question, but there is no answer.  Settings are different for every machine and what an experienced LHR clinicians observes.  If you changed salons / technicians, everything could be completely different.  On our LHR laser, we have 2 different treatment windows available.  If we use our big handpiece, we could treat your UA in less than a minute.  If we use the small one, it could take 10.  You can get an effective treatment with either one.  Leave the settings to the experts.  You would be better served finding an office with medically supervised technicians that get to know you and you can get consistent treatments.  All LHR is not the same.  It depends on the machine, how they take care of it, the settings and then technique. If you are chasing the cheapest price, you will probably have a bad experience.  Best of luck.

David Jensen, DO · Answer

As in any area for hair removal depends how large the area is. Some may  need as few as 6-8 pulses (pulse is light entering the skin) while others may need more because the area of the hair growth is larger. A smaller size person will need less while a large man many more pulses. 10-15 minutes per underarm seems a bit much, if you over pulse the skin you could have complications such as blisters. IPL is super fast and only should take a couple minutes per underarm.

Aurora DeJuliis, MD · Answer

I am surprised you are actually counting the number of flashes during a laser treatment!
First off you want to get a laser treatment in a reputable place with a physician on the premises. With that said, there are various machines out there with different treatment spot sizes, that is why you should not focus on the number of shots. Also you need to take into consideration that as you continue with laser hair removal sessions the area treated grows less hair and you might need less flashes.

How many flashes per underarm per treatment?

Answers (5)

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